Week 7 - Follow The Leader

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

The debate was heating up as New Zealanders prepared to go to the ballot box on 17 September 2005 to elect a new government. The leaders of the two major political parties were trying their best to influence people to vote for their parties. They were offering generous tax cuts packages if elected. You could even go to their online calculators to work out how much you stood to gain financially if a particular party were to be elected.

The latest poll indicated a close race between the two major parties, each receiving about 40% of the votes. With only two more weeks to go before polling day, the hopeful leaders were promising even more funding for community improvements and better policies.

Some leaders let you know how much you stand to gain if you follow them. Not so for Jesus.

Following Jesus is demanding. Discipleship is costly. The path requires seeking His kingdom, taking up the cross daily and denying oneself.

Taking Up the Cross

Jesus made the demand that anyone who wishes to follow Him must “take up his cross daily.” The apostle Paul uses another expression, “I am crucified with Christ.” Both are talking about dying. Crucifixion means death. A cross is to die on. When the Lord speaks of taking up your cross, He is talking about dying. When the Lord bore His cross and made His way to Calvary, He came to a place to die. The cross was an instrument of execution. That is exactly what Paul means when he says, “I am crucified with Christ.” The Christian is dead to self, vanity, egotism, his own agenda and the things of the world.

William Carey was the founder of the eighteenth-century missionary movement that changed the whole culture and life of India. Some church historians would even call him the father of the modern missionary movement. Once, he was honoured by the Governor General of India. Present at the occasion was a junior government official who looked upon the Baptist missionary with contempt. At the dinner table, the junior official openly said to a friend so that William Carey could hear it, “This William Carey, I understand, was a shoe maker.” William Carey humbly replied, “Sir, I was not a shoe maker; I was a cobbler.” You cannot irritate a man like that because he is dead. He has died to himself. He has died to every ambition.

Denying Oneself

Denying oneself means different things in different contexts. To a parent, it means not just seeking one’s own desires, but serving the child in his best interests in terms of investment of time and energy. To a spouse, it means not just asking what can be done for you, but considering how one can be of help to his or her partner. To a neighbour, it means considering how one can be of service and show concern in time of need. To a colleague at work, it means not seeing how they can help you fulfil your responsibility, but how you can be of service to them. Most importantly to God, it means seeking His will and spending time before Him so He can lead and guide you in the way you should go. Discipleship means being a learner, a follower. It means that our attention is turned to how we can follow Jesus.

Seeking His Kingdom

This means that we are seeking His kingdom, not our own. Materialism and the pursuits of power, independence and security are probably the biggest obstacles to spiritual advancement. To pick up a cross means to walk against the grain of cultural values so that our own comfort and needs take a back seat to God’s call. Some things we may have seen as ours by natural right may need to be given up because they represent a subtle form of idolatry. The Spirit guides us into seeing things differently from how we did before. Bearing a cross may mean leaving behind dreams created for us long ago.

So discipleship means intense involvement with God’s Word and with other believers who are committed to growing in their faith and wanting to make a difference in missions. A disciple is never stagnant and never has his or her spiritual life in a state where God cannot challenge him or her to a deeper walk.

We are called to follow Christ where He leads, just as Jeffrey Woo wrote in the opening line of his song, “Where He leads I will follow; where He sends I am prepared to go.” In His leading, He transforms us to be more like Him. Following Jesus is a full-time job, not a weekend hobby. It is a lifestyle and a commitment; it never takes a holiday. That is why Jesus says we should bear our cross daily, deny ourselves and seek first His kingdom. And when we see Him one day face to face, we will exchange the cross for a crown!

I hear my risen Saviour say: “Follow me, follow me, follow me!” His voice is calling all the day, “Follow me, follow me, follow me! For thee I trod the bitter way, For thee I gave my life away, And drank the gall thy debt to pay, Follow me, follow me, follow me!”